baron
[bar-uh n]
- a member of the lowest grade of nobility.
- (in Britain)
- a feudal vassal holding his lands under a direct grant from the king.
- a direct descendant of such a vassal or his equal in the nobility.
- a member of the House of Lords.
- an important financier or industrialist, especially one with great power in a particular area: an oil baron.
- a cut of mutton or lamb comprising the two loins, or saddle, and the hind legs.
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Compare baron of beef.
Origin of baron
1200–50; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin barōn- (stemof barō) man < Germanic; sense “cut of beef” perhaps by analogy with the fanciful analysis of sirloin as “Sir Loin”
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for barons
Contemporary Examples
Here he celebrates the heyday of Birmingham's minor league team, the Barons.
From that day on and for the next ten years Rickwood and the Barons became the core of my life.
He was even a member of his own gang in high school—the Barons.
Historical Examples
"We are your subjects, sire," said the Gascon barons, though with no very good grace.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
The barons gained some tidings of his proceedings, and were on their guard.
Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward IICharlotte Mary Yonge
His deemsters and barons are about him, and his people are on the sward below.
The Little Manx Nation - 1891Hall Caine
Men they were who inherited the blood of the saintly Langton and of his lordly Barons.
The other half went to princes, barons, and other possessors of lands, etc.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)Henry Martyn Baird
baron
- a member of a specific rank of nobility, esp the lowest rank in the British Isles
- (in Europe from the Middle Ages) originally any tenant-in-chief of a king or other overlord, who held land from his superior by honourable service; a land-holding nobleman
- a powerful businessman or financiera press baron
- English law (formerly) the title held by judges of the Court of Exchequer
- short for baron of beef
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Word Origin
C12: from Old French, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German baro freeman, Old Norse berjask to fight
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for barons
baron
n.
c.1200, from Old French baron (nominative ber) "baron, nobleman, military leader, warrior, virtuous man, lord, husband," probably from or related to Late Latin baro "man," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Frankish *baro "freeman, man;" merged in England with cognate Old English beorn "nobleman."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper